An old country preacher used
to say, “You don't know what kind of tree you have until you see
what kind of fruit it's bearing. It takes a little while.” Jesus
said a similar thing in the gospel of Luke in chapter six and verses
forty-three and forty-four:
For a good tree does
not bring forth corrupt fruit; neither does a corrupt tree bring
forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of
thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they
grapes.
Paul the
apostle has been sharing with the church members the contrasting war
between the flesh nature and the spirit of God within them. He has
told them that if they will walk in the spirit they will not fulfill
the lusts of the flesh. He then listed the manifestations of the
flesh nature. In chapter five and verse twenty-two Paul begins to
share the characteristics of the spirit nature. He wrote:
But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith,
Once
again Paul employs the word, “But” which means “in contrast to”
or “however” or “ what is about to be written has greater
significance than what was previously written”. Paul says, “But
the fruit of the Spirit is love,...” It is interesting to note
that Paul uses the singular word “fruit” rather than “fruits”.
He says the “fruit” of the Spirit is love. Love, agape love, is
the fruit of the Spirit. This is an unconditional, without earning
it, God kind of love. This kind of love is not born within people
naturally, and only through the Spirit of God may anyone enjoy this
type of love in their lives. Most people love in an “eros” or
“phileo” type of love. “Eros” is the Greek word for love from
which we get the term “erotic” and has more to do with “lust”
than love. “Phileo” is the Greek word which means a reciprocal
type of love – I love you because you love me. “Agape” love
requires a supernatural event within. The Spirit of God indwelling a
person allows them to love others unconditionally, and without the
Spirit of God this type of love is impossible.
Paul
adds, “...joy” which means gladness. The person who is filled
with the Spirit of God and loves is filled with joy. Joy is a natural
derivative of agape love. There used to be a song that described joy
best:
“Jesus and Others and You. What a wonderful way to spell joy.
Jesus and Others and You, in the heart of each girl and each boy. J
is for Jesus, yes He takes first place. O is for others you meet face
to face. Y is for you and whatever you do, put yourself last and
spell JOY.”
When we
walk in the Spirit, we will love, and the first result of that love
is joy.
Paul
will continue his list of the fruit of the Spirit, but we shall wait
until next time to share about them.
Next time we will look at other characteristics of the fruit of the
spirit, so read ahead, and let us join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look for
the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation
to Generation” in all major
bookstore
sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to
e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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